Various valve pathologies, such as, in the case of cardiac valve pathologies, mitral valve pathologies (essentially stenosis or insufficiency), can be surgically treated either with “repair” techniques or with “replacement” techniques. Repair techniques, in some circumstances, may provide a higher life expectancy and less morbidity after treatment over replacement techniques. This may be related to the conservation of the native valve structures, e.g., leaflets and chordae tendineae, in the repair process, in contrast to replacement where the native valve structures are removed.
Various valve pathologies may thus benefit from the availability of arrangements permitting valve replacement (such as, e.g., Mitral Valve Replacement or MVR) in conjunction with the conservation of the native valve structures.